These words refer to unfavourable, harmful or hostile forces, conditions or opinions. Opposed is the most general word and is usually applied to persons. It refers to mental resistance or a contrary view, whether or not action is taken against anything.

• All opposed to the motion said "no"; One group opposed to the amendment decided to be absent from the House so as not to block passage of the main bill.

Antagonistic , when applied to persons, indicates a much deeper rancour than opposed. It suggests ill feeling, whether smouldering or out in the open: antagonistic rivals as contrasted with friendly opponents; a delinquent boy, highly antagonistic towards persons in authority. In a less personal sense, antagonistic may stress basic incompatibility of aims: Capitalism and communism are antagonistic economic system. Used of forces, it may indicate a counter-acting or neutralizing effect: antagonistic muscular reactions.

In one sense, adverse is close to opposed , indicating disagreement: He was adverse to my suggestion. More often, the word is applied to inanimate forces or conditions that are unpropitious or detrimental, working against the interests of a person or thing: adverse winds; adverse circumstances; an adverse ruling in the court case, denying his claim to compensation. Adverse may even point to what is ultimately disastrous or calamitous: adverse fortune or fate. Inimical , when used of personal attitudes, implies the unfriendliness or hostility of an enemy.

• His attitude is inimical to our project; a former colony, now inimical to the parent country.

Used of forces and conditions, inimical implies a basic conflict of interest or an inherent incompatibility, as between nature and purpose: inimical and irreconcilable interests; a climate inimical to the development of an agricultural economy.